In Pursuit Of Lady Temari's Consort
by NightDuchess
Summary: Years passed by, and according to the wills of the late Kazekage, Temari should be wed to a noble and compatible ninja when she reached her 17th birthday. Will she let her brothers do the choosing, or she will let her heart decide for her instead?
1. Chapter 1 Another Chance

IN PURSUIT OF LADY TEMARI'S CONSORT

Disclaimer: Masashi Kishimoto-sensei owns Uzumaki Naruto & Company. I just borrow his creations for my fics.

Author's Note: I posted the first two chapters, and thankfully, the keen eyes of my reviewers told me of my mistake; that the time gap between Chuunin exam and Sasuke's retrieval mission is only for a few months, and not a couple of years. Gomen-nasai. That's why I've decided to change the summary and a few lines in the story to change Temari's marriageable age. (a bit) It won't effect much of the story though. I just hope that it could make up for the 'timeline' confusion. Again, sorry. -

Summary: Years passed by, and according to the wills of the late Kazekage, Temari should be wed to a noble and compatible ninja when she reached her 17th birthday. Will she let her brothers do the choosing, with each of them already had their own choice of potential future "brother-in-law" or, she will let her heart decide for her.

(Takes place after episode 135 of the anime. Canon Universe. Manga universe not included)

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CHAPTER 1 : Another Chance

(At the hospital)

"You are unexpectedly boring…Although you are acting like a man." Temari made a frustrated remark, but yet, in a very calm manner. After that, there was a long pause between them. Both of them uncertain of what the other is thinking.

After a moment, Shikamaru stood up and walked away. He felt like a weak failure in front of the girl who had saved his life a few moments before. And the way her words sounded a little bit arrogant did make her more disconcerting by the minute.

Just as he passed another hallway opening on his right, he noticed that there was a familiar and well-known figure standing tall, leaning against the wall.

"Shikamaru...You're being talked down by a girl and now you're running away?" His father's loud, masculine voice was heard, breaking the silence that started when he left Temari without a word.

"It's troublesome. I don't want to have an argument…Besides, I'm not a girl". Shikamaru said, while piercing a glance towards Temari from the corners of his eyes. 'And above all that, having her saving my butt do wounded my pride a bit.'

"Yeah…but you're not acting like a man either. You're a spineless coward." Temari could only watched the exchange between Shikamaru and another older man who looked quite a lot like him.

'That must be his father'. She pondered to herself.

The deserted area of the hospital is indeed a suitable area for personal conversations, because due to this fact, she could hear every single word undoubtedly that were spoken between the father and son. She couldn't help but feel a tinge of sympathy towards the dark plum-haired newly-appointed Chuunin.

Frankly, deep inside, she really and badly wanted to console and comfort him. Wishing that she could hold him in her arms, telling him that all that happened weren't his fault, everything's going to be alright and that he should be a man and accept everything as it is. However, unfortunately for her, all she could do was sit there, on the hospital bench, watching helplessly from the depths of her eyes.

The reason why she felt connected with the handsome and extremely smart young man was because of a secret. Yes, a secret that she successfully kept within her heart for almost half a year now. The secret concerning her heart and no one, not even her brothers would believe it if they knew about it. Heck, not even she herself believed at the beginning that; Temari, the Wind Mistress, the well known kunoichi as the strongest of them all in the Academy and also one of the fearsome Sand siblings, would ever lose her heart to a genin from Konoha.

And it all started from the moment Shikamaru outwitted and outsmarted her at the Chuunin exam finals the past few months, right before Orochimaru's invasion attempt towards Konoha. She used to be a girl who waits for no man and men bowed in respect to her strength and merciless fighting. But right now, she had fallen all over for the only man that had managed to spark a bruise at her female ego, which then had turned to admiration and attraction.

At the moment, Fate had written that their paths will cross again. Maybe, this was a way of God to tell her that there's a reason of why she is destined to meet up with Shikamaru once more. And that reason happened to be something that she had to find out for herself. This is another chance for her to see whether her feelings for the onyx-eyed, lazy nin is real and worth a try.

Nevertheless, there is no chance in this lifetime would the Suna Princess's admiration and longing towards the only heir of the Nara clan and not forgetting the royal slacker of the Konoha Academy, would be known to anyone. Because if they do, Shikamaru would eventually knew about it and Temari wouldn't want to know what the outcome would be. 'I'll lose my face in front of everyone or worst, he'll laugh his head off and I'll lose my face in front of him!' She bit her lips subconsciously, cringing at the thought of losing her pride in front of the boy again, just like the first time they met.

"Tsunade-sama!" A loud voice was heard from the corners of the hallway.

It was none other than the Hokage's faithful assistant, Shizune. Her face wore a lightly fatigue expression with beads of perspiration flowing down beside her face. However, the expression on her face had turned into an indescribable feeling, but the words "relief", "glad" and "satisfied" were quite near along the lines as she reported the latest progress of Hyuuga Neji, Inuzuka Kiba and Uzumaki Naruto's situation.

"The two of them?" There's a pause between her words before she blurted out, confirming the situation.

"It seems that your mission has failed, Shikamaru...But, everyone's alive. That is more important than anything else." Tsunade said as she stood up from the bench, switching herself to Hokage mode at that instance.

No exact words could be used to describe what Shikamaru is feeling right now. But, a few possibilities would be relieved, regret, guilty, disappointed yet glad. Yes, he was very glad that even though his first mission turned out to be a failure, his friends and comrades and in another sense, brothers had survived. A whirlwind of emotions were mixing deep inside him. Before he knew it, the tears that he'd tried so best to retain before were running heavily on his cheeks.

"Next time, I'll carry out the missions perfectly!" He muttered between tears and he felt like a heavy burden of guilt had been released from his shoulders.

Dark turquoise eyes were fixed towards the breaking young ninja. She could feel exactly what he feels and if only she could, she wanted to shed tears with him, together. So that he knew that there is another person who really gives a damn about him. Hah, and this comes from a girl who just pep-talked him on the points of having emotional training and sacrifice is inevitable crap a few minutes before.

Temari could feel her face grew warm all of a sudden. And, tears have started to gather at the brims of her eyes.

'No, I could not let these tears fall right now. If I do, it'll surely do nothing good'. Deep inside her, she could hear her voice of reasoning. But, the gleam in her eyes showed what she felt straight away.

"I think I'll go pay the others a visit" Shikamaru said, as his tears subsided and he once again regained all of his composure. Temari's forehead were slightly wrinkled when she saw that Shikamaru had walked away and turned around at one corner, before disappearing.

She felt weak all of a sudden, because of why, she is unsure. It's like as if Shikamaru was her pillar of strength. Just being near him, made her felt strong and peaceful. And now, when he's gone, she found it quite difficult to even smile at the Hokage, when she subconsciously fixed her gaze towards the respected Sannin.

'You're not a coward, Shikamaru. I knew that you have become the man that I saw you could be'. Temari believed wordlessly inside her heart. Then suddenly, her expression turned into more of a determination. 'Okay Mr. Nara Shikamaru. You're not running away from me. I'm not yet finished with you.' With that, she stood up, grabbed her giant fan and mentally strained to find a reason to give to Tsunade before she intended to leave.

"Sumimasen, Tsunade-sama." She said as she turned towards the older blonde woman. "I just remembered that I have to meet up with my brothers. I guessed I forgot about it. They must've been worried about me." With that, Temari gave Tsunade a bow and Tsunade acknowledged her respect. "I'm really looking forward to spend some time with you and your brothers afterwards. I would like to express our gratitude for your assistance and alliance, Temari-san."

"Hai…I'm sure Kazekage-sama would be grateful for your hospitality, Hokage-sama." Temari said, while her eyes were sneaking glances to one certain corner. Tsunade raised one of her eyebrow, but with a warm smile gracing her rosy painted lips. The kunoichi in front of her seems to be restless. 'I heard that Temari was the most reserved ninja in the Academy. I wonder why exactly?' Tsunade mused to herself.

Her eyes never left the silhouette of the female ninja until she disappeared through the corner that she had been stealing glances before; the one where Shikamaru had walked away to before.

Temari felt relieved that she could make an escape to find Shikamaru but she hoped that it wasn't that obvious. But, little did Temari know that all of her expressions before did not go unnoticed by the Hokage.

As soon as her brain started in processing what she had witnessed before, Tsunade couldn't help but to ponder until she came to one mere conclusion. 'The alliance between Konohagakure and Sunagakure has always been a good decision at the first place.'

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Nara Shikaku watched as the blonde young kunoichi made her way towards the corner of the hallway. Hearing from the girl's conversation with his son previously, he was quite amused to find that the girl is another female that could intimidate his son; apart from his wife of course.

"One-of-a-kind, isn't she?" A feminine voice spoke from behind. Shikaku doesn't need to turn around to see the owner of the voice.

"Yeah…she is…I found it quite amusing, though." He answered.

"What's amusing?" Tsunade asked.

"Until now, I thought that no other woman besides my wife would be able to intimidate my son."

"Temari did that?" Both of them laughed at the thought. "From what I've heard, they had fought each other during the Chuunin final exams before. Temari merely got a chance to win against Shikamaru. Why would he felt intimidated at her?"

"My son forfeited the fight due to the reason that he lacks both chakra and energy that time. Despite all reasons, Miss Temari won against him. I've watched the fight all the time, and no doubt…Miss Temari is a very strong and intelligent young lady, chances or no chances. Her performance during the fight did give a challenge to every shinobi in present. Besides, if it wasn't for her and her brothers, Shikamaru and the rest would never survive this mission. I guess that made him looked quite un-cool in front of her" Shikaku said, with his eyes half-closed.

"Hmm…I see. But, after all I've seen before, Temari has a weakness too" Tsunade said, with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

Shikaku threw a questioning glance towards the honey-eyed Sannin. "She do? And, that would be?"

Tsunade let out a small chuckle before she blurted out the words.

"Your son"

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Temari

'This could be another chance. The only chance I'll ever get to be close to his heart. Is this worth pursuing?'

_To Be Continued……_

_End Of Chapter 1_

A/N: So, this is the first chapter. I'm sorry if my writing is not that good, but, I believe that as long as you have the spirits and enthusiasm to write, you'll get better and better. I just hoped you'll help me to improve my writing simply by reviewing or, more better if you could tell me your opinions, suggestions, ideas and etc. It's the readers that make the authors alive. Till next time, take care everyone. Have a nice day. Anou…minna-san, I'm totally in need of a beta-reader cum editor. If anyone's willing to help me, PM me ok? Or send me an email. I love to hear from you. R&R.


	2. Chapter 2 A New Impression

IN PURSUIT OF LADY TEMARI'S CONSORT

Disclaimer: Masashi Kishimoto-sensei owns Uzumaki Naruto & Company. I'm just a newbie, have much to learn and owns an average life.

Author's Note: This is my latest attempt in writing a fan fiction on So, minna-san, please be kind and I'm looking forward to receive constructive criticisms and ideas, and no flames please! I'm emotionally incapable of receiving any heartless remarks. - Hope you'd give this story a shot….alrite? Read & Review, please?

Summary: Years passed by, and according to the wills of the late Kazekage, Temari should be wed to a noble and compatible ninja when she reached her 17th birthday. Will she let her brothers do the choosing, with each of them already had their own choice of potential future "brother-in-law" or, she will let her heart decide for her?

(Takes place after episode 135 of the anime. Canon Universe. Manga universe not included)

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CHAPTER 2 : A New Impression

The surrounding in the hospital room was quite dull and silent until laughter broke out between a patient and his visitor.

"I badly wanted to see your face when you stabbed yourself….ha-ha" Kankurou said, muffled between his laughter.

"Hah…in your dreams, man" Kiba said, while making a pointing gesture with his hands. He was lying on the bed, with most of his body got wrapped up in bandages. He too, tried very hard to contain his laughter, mainly because of the pain on his abs.

"But I was impressed with how you made an appearance though. I thought that one of the twin freaks would be messing up with your cells. Using Kuroari as you in disguise was actually…I hate to say this, but brilliant." Kiba said. "Anyway, I believe I do owe you a thanks for saving our lives. I don't give a damn about myself, but Akamaru is much more important than anything."

Kankurou just nodded in response. "No problem, Inuzuka. You should consider getting stronger next time. I won't be there to keep saving your ass." And, he let out a deep chuckle.

Kiba's eyes twitched with annoyance. "When I get out from this room, we are so gonna fight!"

"Bring it on." The Sand puppet master replied, with a grin on his Kabuki-painted face.

"Why you..." Kiba launched towards the smirking Kankurou with hands ready to strangle him to death. Unfortunately, his abs hurt so much; he ended up falling ungraciously to the floor.

"Kankurou!" A female voice blasted throughout the room. Kankurou sweat-dropped, knowing that the owner of the voice is none other than his older sister. 'Oh boy, here comes the megaphone' Kankurou muttered under his breath, while giving his sister a silly grin.

"Hi sis! What's up?"

"What's up? You're asking me what's up!" Temari cried. She dashed towards Kankurou who is standing at one corner and smacked him at the back of his head, hard.

"Itei…" Kankurou wailed, holding his head. Oh, the agony of having an older sister.

"Stop harassing the poor boy. Can't you see he's all wrapped up?" Temari said in her protective sister tone, calmer than before as she made her step towards the injured Kiba, lying sprawled on the floor. She slowly and gently held Kiba on his right arm, supporting him from falling again.

Kiba's head dropped down in pain. When he felt a pair of feminine arms grabbed a hold on his right one, all he could see was a pair of smooth legs. He slowly looked up. He saw a pair of smooth thighs clad in a tight dark blue skirt, with a medium length of mesh material wrapping tight at her left ones and another one on the lower right. He suddenly blushed, knowing that he's staring into a girl's legs.

'Oh, wait. If this is Kankurou's sister, than she must be Temari.' Kiba pondered with his eyes closed. At that exact same moment, a visual of a stoic, sarcastic, aloof and a serious looking Temari suddenly popped into the box of his mind.

"Are you okay?" Temari said, as she helped Kiba back to his place on the bed.

Kiba opened his eyes and he was stunned to find them gazing straight into a pair of dark, alluring turquoise eyes. Temari gave him a very sincere smile. The picture he received was quite contrary to the one that he was having before.

"Beautiful…" Kiba muttered slowly under his breath, subconsciously.

"What? Sorry…I couldn't really catch what you were saying just now. Are you hurt somewhere?" Temari asked the dark brown-haired nin, concern was vividly displayed on her eyes.

"Err…ehmm…" Kiba stuttered. He was speechless all of a sudden.

"Kiba-san, right?"

"Ehmm…" Kiba could do nothing, but nodded.

With her hands still clutching on Kiba's arm, she said again, "I'm sorry about my brother. He could be such an ass sometimes" She glared at Kankurou, who is now sitting on another bed next to Kiba's, crossing his arms while pouting his lips. "Spoilt brat" Temari mumbled.

"How's Akamaru?" She asked the stunned Kiba, who is now blushing at the close physical contact between them. 'I thought he got hurt in the abs. Or, did he get hit on the head or something?' Temari wondered silently. Her eyes blinking questioningly at the now flushing boy.

Before Kiba could answer, Kankurou butt in. "Yo, sis. I think you should let go of his hand. It could be that you're blocking his blood circulation or something. You see, he's turning purple."

"What?" She looked at Kiba, and realizing that Kiba maybe uncomfortable, she quickly let her hands go. "Sorry" She grinned, coyly brushing a few of her golden bangs aside. Kiba only stared at her in admiration.

Temari, realizing that Kiba is gazing intently on her, couldn't help but feel embarrassed. In reflex, she quickly found another target to look at, so as to avoid her from looking back into his face. And her eyes had settled on a white dog, laid motionless on a small, white cloth-covered basket.

She gently touched Akamaru on its head, and gently stroking it. "How is he doing?" She asked, her gaze still fixed on the dog.

"Oh, my sister said that he won't be walking for awhile. All the muscles on his arms and legs were badly damaged." Kiba said. He put his hands behind his head, and leant against the bedpost. "Other than that, Akamaru's one fine dog." He grinned at Temari.

"I see" Temari said. "Well, I hope you get well soon, Akamaru." She said, while stroking Akamaru gently, carefully avoiding its injuries. "And you too, Akamaru's owner" She smiled at Kiba as she stood up. Kiba couldn't help but grinned bashfully at Temari.

So, she made her way towards the door and just as she was about to walk out, she turned her head around towards Kiba and asked, "Anou…Has anyone giving you a visit before us?"

"Ermm…well, my sister was the lucky number one, followed by you guys. Why?"

Hearing his answers, Temari felt slightly disappointed because that surely means Shikamaru hasn't been here yet.

"Aa…nothing. I was just wondering," She responded half-heartedly instead. "Well, I need to go somewhere else, I'll see you guys later. Kankurou, you better not giving Kiba a hard time." She gave her brother the warning sign before disappearing behind the closed door.

Kiba was still staring at the door, with an enthralled expression on his face. 'She's so different. Nicer and beautiful, yeah, more beautiful' he talked to himself.

"If I didn't know better, I think that you're flirting with my sister." Kankurou said, with a questioning look on his face and his right eyebrow arched in curiosity.

Kiba, realizing that Kankurou was still inside the room, suddenly shook his thoughts away. "What? Me? Hitting on your sister? Tskk…no way. " He said, trying vehemently to conceal the real truth behind his own words.

"Yeah, right." Kankurou smirked. "But, you're not the only one though."

"Huh?"

"You're not the only one who seemed to be attracted to her. I have to admit. In just a few months, Temari had grown more matured, refined or I could put in another word… desirable."

Kiba could only nod in understanding, although deep inside, he couldn't be more than agreed with the puppet master.

"She'll be turning seventeen in two months time. In Sunagakure, there was an old belief that a maiden who reached the age of seventeen means she has come of age to be wedded to a noble man. However, it was long forgotten by the people of the Sand Village. Well, if we were from an ordinary family, I guess it wouldn't be much of a problem anyway."

"Why?"

"Being the only daughter of the Fourth Kazekage seems to be giving pressure on her. She even got her first proposal when she was fifteen and it continues on until we came here for the Chuunin exams. And just last week, she turned down three proposals from three countries."

"Why did she turn them down? Is it because she wanted to concentrate on her training or something else?" Kiba inquired, obviously interested on the matter concerning Kankurou's sister.

"Despite of that, I don't even know. But one thing that I do know is my sister may seem to be cranky, bossy and stuck-up" Kankurou laughed at his own description of his sister. "But, she's still the same as any other girl. Wanting to find the true love kinda crap."

Kiba nodded. But one thing that he really wants to know is what happened if Temari never settled down ever.

Kankurou couldn't help but roared into laughter.

"Now that is classic. With her current attitude, I doubt it would happen. But, as we are the only family members alive, she may choose her suitor on her own or she could give the responsibilities to us. But, in her case, I don't think she has any option to choose on her own."

"What? Why?"

"Er…" Kankurou bit his tongue. He realized that he nearly blurted out his family's secret. "Forget it. It was nothing."

"Okay…" Kiba stared into blank space, digesting the information he received from Kankurou. "Wow."

"I know."

"Heheh…can she really trust your judgment in choosing her a husband."

"Nope. I'm not exactly gonna be the one who do the choosing"

"Then who?"

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Shikamaru yawned lazily as he lay on the floor on the rooftop of the hospital. With arms crossed under his head, cloud gazing had always been more than his hobby. It had become a remedy to release all the pressure and tension that he endured during the times after he started his training to become a shinobi.

He used to go cloud watching sometimes alone but most of the time with his best buddy Chouji, but right now, Chouji is still resting in the ward. Shikamaru couldn't be that grateful when Tsunade-sama told him that Chouji's condition is stable. Still, cloud watching could never be fun doing it alone. However, the day had retired and the sky had turned into a canvas of dark purple as countless of stars were present, surrounding the beautiful full moon.

The surrounding gave out an ambience of tranquility. Just what Shikamaru thought he needed. 'Stargazing wasn't such a bad idea after all.' The 15 years-old teenager mused to himself.

"It seems that someone has finally come back to his old self" A figure spoke from behind.

Shikamaru wondered where that voice came from. He was about to turn his head around, when the figure took a few steps forward and right now was standing near his head. He looked up and was surprised to see Temari's face smiling down at him.

"Surprise to see me?"

"Well, yeah." Shikamaru said, coolly. He then fixed his gaze to one of the stars in front further from her direction. He was afraid that if Temari took a step forward, he might just get a sneak 'preview' underneath her skirt. 'Geez, I don't want to get any other body parts broken again' He quickly whisked away the mental image of Temari sending him flying from the site with one of her whirlwind attacks while screaming "Pervert" at the top of her lungs.

A small, bitter smile gracing her pale, pink lips. Somehow, she just got the feeling that Shikamaru doesn't feel like comfortable, or the least interested in having her presence there. Taking in the wrong assumption, she turned around. Before intending to take her leave, she spoke softly, "I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable. I just wanted to see how you were doing. Well…I'm glad that you're being yourself again"

On hearing this, Shikamaru stood up and looked at her "What…"

"I'll just go…and let you mope in your self pity okay?" Temari let out a smirk and she was about to walk away when she heard him say.

"Hey…stargazing couldn't be more fun when having a company"

She couldn't believe her ears and she arched one eyebrow in a questioning manner.

"What is it, Mr. Crybaby?"

She turned her head around and saw the usual scowl on his face had turned into a smirk. She bit her lips subconsciously, as she waited for his response. Shikamaru tilted his head to the spot beside him. "I could use some company right now, even though you're one troublesome girl"

She felt her heart lifted a little. She made her way to take the spot beside him. She was thinking of pushing his buttons again by teasing him once more, just to see how strong his iron will of temper control is. But, then again right now, silence could have never been a better option.

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Kiba

'She's way too different than before. Soft-spoken, caring and yet more fascinating. A new impression worthy of knowing.'

_To Be Continued……_

_End Of Chapter 2_

A/N: There you go..heheh. I'm not sure what is gonna happen next, but please, dear readers, I'd love to hear from you guys. What do you want to happen next? Who do you think are the potential suitors for Temari? Don't hesitate to tell me okay? See ya next time!


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